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Talk:SorryNotSorry/@comment-5483266-20160920061642
Note: I am well aware that Harley Quinn is an iconic character in her own right, but this post is strictly referring to her live-action counterpart, and its unanimously positive reception across all social media but ESPECIALLY Tumblr at the expense of other female characters arguably more worthy of such devotion on the superhero spectrum. I find it so aggravating how a hypersexualized pin-up, infinitely GIFable blonde caricature who feeds the Manic Pixie Cool Girl trope and embodies a character with no sense of moral compass monopolizes all the attention, inspires a ridiculous amount of thinkpieces and enthusiasm from both fangirls and fanboys alike, and is even worshipped as some sort of (post-)Feminist™ paragon amongst her stans for swaggering around with a baseball bat while popping bubble gum in a "Daddy's Lil' Monster" top and spouting ~sassy one-liners that fulfill their "edgy" aesthetic, meanwhile Daisy Johnson barely gets any recognition or appreciation compared to her peers, both in her own fandom as well as that of the overarching cinematic universe. Just like Harley, Daisy has been in a toxic relationship with an abuser of her own, one that is romanticized to disgusting, disturbing extremes. However, the qualities that distinguish her from a certain trash-talking white girl with trendy tie-dye clown makeup are limitless. She has experienced three full seasons of complex character development, exists as the very first heroine and female protagonist of the MCU, is a genuine, altruistic, intelligent, compassionate, raw and empathetic character that struggles with her flaws, whose narrative entitles her to be emotionally vulnerable and susceptible to forces of darkness, and whom has progressed so much from the lost and lonely, pain-deflecting girl she used to be. She has known a world of suffering, having lost her family when she was an infant and found them as an adult, only to tragically lose them yet again. Daisy's journey has encompassed so much depth and articulates all the themes of superhero literature in vivid and living color: she has grown from feeling like a monster for her newfound matter-manipulating abilities, learning to control and embrace her powers and proudly identify as an Inhuman, having her agency stripped away and mind brutally violated by an all-consuming formidable entity, to reclaiming her sense of self and forging her own path in accordance with her morals and notions of duty. She actively strives to save people and become a beacon for the good of humanity on her individual terms, while also navigating the maelstrom of ambiguous emotions she carries within and fighting the demons - both external and internal - that haunt her. With such a multifaceted origin story, Daisy Johnson is above and beyond one of the most fleshed out characters in the realm of comic adaptations. So why the HELL is she so underrated that it's even a miracle to see her name being mentioned in conjunction with the other heavyweights in her league? That's a rhetorical question for you because she also, surprise surprise, just so happens to be biracial. The first ever Chinese-American female superhero. Daisy is - literally AND figuratively - groundbreaking representation, yet she is constantly and consistently erased by fandom, infantalized, and reduced to a lovelorn princess cliche by the same people who ship her with the Nazi that betrayed her to infiltrate a team composed of her surrogate family and dearest friends. When her presence isn't being demoted or extinguished completely in contemporary discourse, she gets vitriolic hatred for anything and everything, including calling out said Nazi for being a homicidal, manipulative maniac. Even in S1, fandom relentlessly criticized her as "annoying" alongside ludicrous "Mary Sue" accusations for being witty, sharp, inquisitive, and prone to making similar kinds of remarks as everyone's favourite Clown Queen of Crime. An arc in which Daisy succumbs to a parasitic adversary who has infested her mind and robbed her of her basic human rights suddenly translates into her character going past the point of no return, condemned as absolutely irredeemable in the eyes of the same group of people whom rush to Jessica Jones's defense for her actions under the influence of Kilgrave, a being that also possesses abilities of mind control. But white girls like SS!Harley Quinn deserve all the popularity and blind adoration over a superhero-vigilante hacker of color who survived homelessness, domestic and childhood abuse, and is more of a flesh-and-blood incarnation of female empowerment than certain overexposed characters will ever be. Okay.